BP MUR CAN P W3554
MacDonald, Thoreau
1969

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In black ink on white paper, a dragonfly is flying past some large rocks next to a body of water, likely a river. In the background is a forest of tall evergreen trees. ; Bookplate Type : Pictorial ; Bookplate Function : Ownership

Dr. Edmund Murton Walker was born in Windsor, Ontario, on October 5, 1877. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in medicine, but studied for a year afterwards in the Department of Biology before going to Germany for a year of postgraduate work at the University of Berlin. There, Walker studied zoology and was then subsequently appointed lecturer in invertebrate zoology at the University of Toronto in 1906. From 1910 until 1920, he was also the editor of Canadian Entomologist, having taken over the editorial work from Dr. Charles Bethune. Throughout his career, he worked to enlarge the invertebrate collection at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). In 1918, he was appointed assistant director of the ROM of Zoology. Due to increased teaching responsibilities at the University, Walker resigned as assistant director in 1931 and became an honorary curator of the museum instead, a position that he held until his death in 1969. Between the years of 1934 and 1948, Walker was the head of the Department of Zoology Following his retirement from the University in 1948, Walker assumed work in the Department of Entomology at the ROM. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Carleton University, in Ottawa, in 1963, and was awarded the Flavelle Medal by the Royal Society of Canada in 1969. Thoreau MacDonald was the son of Group of Seven founder J.E.H. MacDonald. Born in Toronto on April 21, 1901, Thoreau shared a studio with his father until 1949, when he moved the studio to the family house in Thornhill (in the now Greater Toronto Area) where he was living. An illustrator, designer and painter, Thoreau was self-taught, but developed his skills under the guidance of his father. His career as a designer began in earnest at the age of sixteen, when his father suffered from a collapse and Thoreau attempted to help him with design work during his recovery. During his twenty-seven years in his father's studio, Thoreau 'saw the rise and decline of the Group of Seven,' and throughout his life became well acquainted with a number of well-known artists. Considered Canada's foremost book illustrator of the time, Thoreau worked predominantly in black and white, due to colour blindness. He lived a quiet life, preferring nature and the more rural life in Thornhill to Toronto, and avoided self-promotion. Although very skilled in lettering and other forms of book illustration and design, Thoreau is perhaps best known for his depictions of rural scenes and nature. He passed away on May 30, 1989. The original artwork for this bookplate was executed in pen and ink and then photographed for photo-engraving as a process block. ; Personal